Depth Charts

Jonathan Toews has decided against playing for Team Canada in the 2017 World Championships.

Toews feels it would be better for his preparations for 2017-18 if he passed on the tournament. "At this point of my career, going through the last couple of years the way things have played out, there are some little changes here and there with how I approach my preparation, especially the last summer being a long offseason and coming in feeling I was as prepared as I could be and still not getting to the level of play I wanted to this season," Toews said. "There are some things I have to re-evaluate and think about this offseason. There's no satisfaction there but definitely take a different approach with how I prepare for next season. I didn't get to the level I needed to be to help our team survive a little bit longer in this last series, so I have to be responsible for that as well." Toews got off to a slow start in 2016-17, but he heated up in the second half of the campaign. He finished with 21 goals and 58 points in 72 regular season contests.

Artem Anisimov (lower body) is expected to be back in the lineup for Game 1 against Nashville.

"I don't know if [there is any] doubt at all," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's good to go." Anisimov has been out of action since Mar. 14 due to a lower-body injury. He recorded 22 goals and 45 points in 64 games during the 2016-17 campaign. Look for Anisimov to be back between Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin on Thursday night.

Tanner Kero produced a goal and an assist in Wednesday's 5-1 win over Pittsburgh.

He picked up a helper on a marker by Artemi Panarin and scored his sixth goal of the season during the third period. Kero has generated 15 points this season, but he has three in the last two games since being moved to a line with Panarin and Patrick Kane.

Marcus Kruger isn't paying attention to the speculation that he might be done with the Chicago Blackhawks.

"We all know what happens in the summer, and there's going to be a new team coming in and all of that stuff," Kruger said. "We have a history, too, of not being able to keep players. That's part of the business side of things, but I don't put too many thoughts into that. Right now I'm here, so I'm focused on [this], but it's going to be interesting to see what happens in the summer." He will likely be exposed in the expansion draft and could be traded if the Golden Knights don't take him.

Vince Hinostroza, John Hayden, Tomas Jurco and Jordin Tootoo are each expected to be scratched against Nashville for Game 4 on Thursday.

Unfortunately, there hasn't been much production from this group in the series thus far. Tootoo has averaged 6:13 of ice time, with two shots on net in two games. Both Hinostroza and Hayden have played just once and less than seven minutes each.

John Hayden is completely focused on hockey now that he has earned a degree in political science.

He had to juggle his studies and playing for the Blackhawks after he signed a two-year deal in March. "Now that everything is officially settled down it's a relief not to have any summer classes," Hayden said. "Now it's the first time in my life I officially have just hockey on my menu." He skated in 12 games with Chicago in 2016-17 and posted four points. Hayden also dressed in one playoff match. The 22-year-old forward is hungry for more NHL action in 2017-18, but he will have to earn his spot at training camp.

Artemi Panarin has arguably been the best player at the IIHF World Hockey Championships.

Panarin leads all players in scoring with 16 points in eight games and has been the best player on the ice in most of those contests. He will try to lead Russia to a bronze medal Sunday in a game against Finland.

Ryan Hartman will start Game 2 on Chicago's top line with Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik.

Rookie Nick Schmaltz was on the line at the start of Game 1, but a tough period led to him being demoted. Schmaltz's loss is Hartman's gain. Hartman finished the regular season with 19 goals and 31 points in 76 games. The promotion will definitely increase his fantasy value.

Dennis Rasmussen ended Chicago's goalless drought in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at 141:05 in Game 3 on Monday night.

He gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead and Patrick Kane put them up 2-0 going into the third, but Nashville came back for a 3-2 win in overtime. The Predators have the Blackhawks on the brink of elimination with a 3-0 series lead.

Motte isn't expected to play in Chicago's series against Nashville. He registered 16 points in 43 games with Rockford this campaign and he had seven points in 33 NHL appearances during the regular season.

Richard Panik made it sound like there wasn't much of a negotiating process before he inked his two-year, $5.6 million extension with Chicago on Thursday.

"I was waiting for the first offer to come in, and the first offer they gave me surprised me," Panik said. "There wasn't much thinking involved. I was really happy to get the first offer [because] it was a good one." It's good that Panik was happy with Chicago's offer because, if anything, he might have been able to hold out for more if he really wanted to. He's coming off a strong season where he recorded 22 goals and 44 points in 82 games. He'll be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this deal, so if he has another couple solid seasons during this contract then his next signing should be fairly lucrative.

After being shut out in Game 1, the Blackhawks know they have to find a way to make life more difficult for Preds goalie Pekka Rinne.

"That's no secret in playoff hockey, that it's always going to be those greasy goals that aren't always pretty plays," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "It comes down to having a little more determination and, like (Quenneville) said, that desperation — pick it up a bit. Maybe that'll be the difference." The Blackhawks will look to even up the best-of-seven series at home on Saturday night.

Brent Seabrook has declined an invite to play for Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships.

Seabrook has represented Canada at the Olympics, but with his wife scheduled to give birth in a few weeks, it's only normal that he won't be heading to Paris and Cologne for the tournament. He had three goals and 36 assists in 79 games this season.

Brian Campbell got his first game-winning goal of the season Saturday versus Nashville.

He broke a 3-3 tie at the 18:55 mark of the third period with his fifth goal of 2016-17. Campbell had produced just three assists over his previous 20 contests. He has 16 points and a plus-21 rating in 63 matches.

That's based on Wednesday's practice where Michal Kempny was paired with Brent Seabrook instead of Oduya. Given that Chicago is trailing Nashville 3-0 in the series, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Blackhawks make some changes. Oduya has no points and a minus-three rating in three playoff contests this year. He's been averaging 21:01 minutes per game.

Trevor van Riemsdyk will represent the U.S. at the 2017 IIHF World Championships.

He set new career highs with five goals, 16 points and a plus-17 rating in 58 games during the 2016-17 campaign. Van Riemsdyk will join a defense group that includes Danny DeKeyser, Noah Hanifin, Charlie McAvoy, Connor Murphy and Jacob Trouba.

Corey Crawford allowed three goals on 25 shots in Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators.

Many picked the Hawks to make a long playoff run, but that doesn't matter anymore because they've officially been eliminated from the postseason. Crawford gave up three goals or more in Games 2, 3 and 4. He finishes the playoffs with a 2.84 goals-against-average and a .902 save percentage. Crawford wasn't spectacular in the series, but the fact that his team only managed to score three goals in four games certainly didn't help.

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